Dubai Chocolate, invented to satisfy hunger during pregnancy, is a rare combination of creativity, flavor and social media success that has broken all industry records.
It was a cold and damp evening in Munich in December 2024, but the festive tunes and twinkling fairy lights at the Marienplatz Christmas market managed to lift the spirits of the tourists. With a mug of mulled wine in hand, many of them headed to the sweets stall to buy traditional German Christmas cookies.
This year, however, the longest line was not for lebkuchen (ginger cookies baked
at Christmas) or traditional fruit bread stollen, but for a newcomer to the sweets market: Dubai chocolate.
It was the first introduction of many people to a new chocolate in a country far from its homeland. But by then, Dubai chocolate had already become a global sensation: a big, gooey and unique chocolate bar that broke industry records, won millions of hearts and spread like wildfire around the world.
Creation and popularity
A decadent bar of milky
chocolate with silky pistachio cream, earthy tahini and crunchy shards of knafee dough, the original Dubai chocolate was launched by Dubai-based FIX Dessert Chocolatier in 2022 when its founder
Sara Hamouda, a British woman from Egypt, had a desire to create something unique to satisfy her cravings for knafee and pistachios during pregnancy. FIX named her creation "
Can't Get Off Knafee."
"Can't Get Off Knafee" took over the world when TikTok user Maria Vehera posted an enthusiastic video of herself sampling a candy bar in her car in December 2023. The video quickly went viral, garnering more than 125 million views and dozens of fans around the world who were willing to do anything to take a bite. The bar became a craze and was immediately dubbed "Dubai chocolate".
Photo: bbc.com
In an interview with the BBC in early 2025, Yaesen Alani, co-founder of FIX, described the international attention as "flattering and humbling." However, despite FIX's plans for global expansion, the Can't Get Off Knafee bar remains available only in the UAE, prompting independent chocolatiers and multinational brands such as Lindt and Ulker to imitate the original and produce their own versions to meet global demand. These imitations, also known as "Dubai chocolate", have flooded supermarkets around the world.
Rapid dissemination
Today, Dubai chocolate can be found everywhere: on the shelves of online food delivery apps in the UAE and on the crowded shelves of Istanbul candy stores, in the crowded aisles of London's Lidl stores and in the chaotic alleys of Mumbai's flea markets.
Global demand continues to skyrocket, which has led to pistachio shortages and shortages around the world. This has created queues at chocolate counters in Europe and the US and inspired limited engagement with big brands such as Shake Shack and Starbucks. Supermarkets started imposing restrictions on Dubai chocolate and people were caught smuggling the prized bars. In short, Dubai chocolate has shaken up the global chocolate industry.
This has opened up a whole new market for artisan confectioners around the world, including the famous Maison Samadi in London. Maison Samadi, a British chocolatier with Lebanese roots dating back to 1872, was the first to introduce his version of viral Dubai chocolate bars in London, titled "Dubai Viral Style Chocolate".
For Nabil Chehab, Director of Business Development at Maison Samadi, creating Viral Dubai Chocolate was a natural step in their chocolate journey. "We were already working on our heritage collection when we discovered Viral Dubai Chocolate. It was a perfect fit because it combined a favorite Middle Eastern dessert, knafeh, which is a tribute to the Samadi family's heritage, and chocolate - our core specialty," says Chehab.
Chehab says that the demand for the Dubai Viral Style Chocolate bars has far exceeded their expectations, most likely due to the interesting concept.
"It's amazing how the FIX team came up with this innovative idea of a 'dessert in a candy bar' that is now more satisfying and nourishing than a regular candy bar," enthuses Chehab. "For centuries, connoisseurs of delicious food have enjoyed the knafeh on its own. Now, Dubai Chocolate allows them to try this famous dessert in a chocolate shell, making the experience even more intriguing and exciting."
Photo: bbc.com
"The real success of Dubai chocolate is due to its texture," agrees leading Turkish food writer Aylin Aney Tan. "The velvety gooeyness of pistachio cream is not only pleasant to taste, but also visually appealing. In addition, the crunchy texture of the knaffe kadaif pastry makes the dessert even more irresistible."
"Chocolates with a noticeable crunch, such as Swiss Toblerone and Ferrero Rocher, have always sold well in the market," explains Aney Tan. "The same goes for Dubai chocolate. Only in this case, the crunch goes a step further and makes the chocolate bar suitable for social media such as TikTok and Instagram."
When Vehera gnaws into a chocolate bar in her TikTok video, the decadent pistachio cream oozes out of it and the crunchy sounds of ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridional Response) echo in the foreground, making her a surefire winner
on social media.
A traditional sweet
However, "although the instant popularity of Dubai chocolate has largely been driven by social media, the exclusivity of the original bar has kept interest alive," said Monique Naval, senior analyst at Euromonitor International.
The original Can't Get Off Knafee bar can only be purchased online at 2pm and 5pm through the UAE's Deliveroo food delivery app.
FIX produces about 500 bars daily, and they sell out quickly. Limited availability, both temporally and geographically, creates a
fear of missing out, which further increases interest and demand.
"The fact that the chocolate has Dubai in its name also adds to its popularity and hype," says Nawal. "When people think of Dubai, they imagine luxury hotels, glittering shopping malls, luxury cars and desserts with gold sprinkles. Such sentiments drive the success of Dubai chocolate," she adds.
Beyond its viral fame, the resonance of Dubai chocolate also lies in its deep Middle Eastern roots - the family traditions of sharing sweets, giving edible treats and the nostalgic flavors of knafeh and pistachio that have entered everyday life throughout the region. For Chehab, this connection runs deep.
"When my wife's great-grandfather, Muhyiddin Samadi, opened Al Samadi Sweets in Beirut in 1872, knafeh was one of the first sweets he sold," he recalls. "I grew up in Beirut. As a kid, I remember taking the famous Lebanese shuttle bus to Al Samadi Sweets every day, taking a plate of knafeh for breakfast and eating it on the way to my father's store. I didn't know then that I would marry Samadi's beautiful great-granddaughter," he adds with a twinkle in his eye.
In an interview with Arabian Business last year, Hamouda said: "I wanted the FIX experience to be different. I wanted people to relive moments of their past from the first slice." And for many fans around the world, that first bite has become exactly what Hamouda envisioned: an edible journey into the bustling Middle Eastern souks, where vendors sell delicious local sweets and the scent of pistachios wafts through the air.
Photo: bbc.com
"Sixty-eight percent of the world's consumers want to experience cultures other than their own, and that includes a willingness and desire to try new flavors and ingredients," explains Nawal. Pistachios, a Middle Eastern product, are also on this wave, being hailed as the next big seasonal flavor around the world and appearing in everything from lattes to liqueurs.
At the same time, Middle Eastern tourism is booming and Dubai has become a culinary destination in its own right, with some visitors flying here just to try the viral chocolate in person. What started as a simple chocolate bar in a Dubai dessert store has become a global sensation.
"I'm not surprised," says Chehab, reflecting on the chocolate's meteoric rise. "It's the perfect combination of flavor, texture, enjoyment and nostalgia. It was born to be a champion."